The Roosevelt Children: Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Theodore Roosevelt family early in the presidential years.

Theodore Roosevelt had six children. In this group picture taken early in the presidential years shows from left to right, Ethel, Mr. Roosevelt, Ted Jr., Archie, Alice, Kermit, Mrs. Roosevelt and Quentin. Short biographical sketches below tell you more about the most important people in Theodore Roosevelt's life.

Alice Roosevelt Longworth
February 12, 1884 - February 20, 1980

Alice was the only child of Theodore Roosevelt's first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee, who died of complications from childbirth. She spent her first year with "Auntie Bye" at Sagamore Hill, while her father recovered from his sadness in North Dakota.

Alice and Theodore Jr. were close as children and as the oldest, they enjoyed their positions of leadership in the growing family. Alice, who the family called "Sister" and was good at mothering the children, but she herself was "allergic to discipline."

When her father became president, Alice a cool and spirited teenager, was often in the public eye. The Alice-Blue Gown appeared at this time, a mark of her popularity.

Alice married Congressman Nicholas Longworth of Cincinnati, Ohio on February 17, 1906, when theirs became a most brilliant White House wedding. She went on to become one of the most outspoken women of the century, dazzling the public when her much sought-after opinion was expressed.

Alice Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
September 13, 1887 - July 12, 1944

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was the first son born to TR and Edith Roosevelt. He was a loving and high-tempered child but never bore any grudges. In his big spectacles he looked like a very active, wiry brownie, and was his father's shadow.

When TR, Jr. was nine, TR gave him a rifle, delighting the boy to no end. To see if it fired, and both promising "not to tell mother," they fired the rifle into the ceiling of TR's dressing room.

TR, Jr. attended Groton School and then Harvard, graduating in 1908. After graduation he took a job with the Hartford Carpet Co. Then he went into banking in New York in 1912 and resigned in 1919.

He was an organizer of the Plattsburg Camps, a private effort to better train citizen soldiers, and received a commission as a major in the Officer Reserve Corps. During World War I he commanded a battalion in the 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division; and later was promoted and placed in command of the regiment. While he was in service, he was severely wounded and gassed.

After the war, was one of the founders of the American Legion; he was Assistant Secretary of the Navy like his father before him; and he served as Governor General of the Philippines; and Governor of Puerto Rico.

With the end of his public career in 1933, he was an executive for American Express and Doubleday Publishing Company. With the start of World War II, he returned to military service. In his entire military career, he was awarded every military combat decoration including the Congressional Medal of Honor.

After being promoted to brigadier general, he participated in three allied invasions: Oran 1942; Sicily 1943; and D-Day at Utah Beach in 1944. Ted, Jr. married Eleanor Alexander and they had four children. In 1938, they built Old Orchard at which TR, Jr. only lived for a short time, before he died of a heart attack in France on July 12, 1944 at the age of 56. He was buried at the American Military Cemetery in Normandy, France.

As a child, Kermit was a delicate boy with little resistance to illness and infection. His nurse, knowing of his small appetite, would entice him to eat steak by calling it "tender-lion."

Kermit had a natural flair for language and was an avid reader. In 1908 as a freshman in Harvard, he and his father, TR both of whom loved nature and outdoor sports went on an African hunting trip. After this trip and a swing through Europe, Kermit returned to Harvard, and completed a four years of study in two and one-half years. Again in 1913 they left for another trip to the Amazonian jungles in South America to explore the "River of Doubt."

In 1914 Kermit married Belle Willard, daughter of the U.S. Ambassador to Spain. They had four children. From 1914 to 1916 he was Assistant Manager for the National City Bank in Buenos Aires. In 1917 as he was about to be transferred to a Russian branch, the U.S. entered the World War. Kermit accepted a Captaincy in the British Army and saw hard fighting in the Near East, later transferring to the United States Army.

After World War I he formed the Roosevelt Steamship Lines and organized the United States Lines. At the start of World War II, he resumed active duty with the British Army until he received a medical discharge. By July 1942, resumed active duty as a Major in the United States Army. Kermit continued to combat serious health problems while continuing to serve his country as an intelligence officer in Alaska where he died on June 4, 1943.

By family tradition, Roosevelts are buried where they fall. Kermit rests in the Fort Richardson National Cemetery, near Anchorage, Alaska; Quentin was buried where he was shot down, near the Marne in France. In the 1950's the family asked that he be reinterred beside his brother, Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. at the National American Military Cemetery in Normandy

Ethel was her own person from the beginning, causing her father to remark, "she had a way of doing everything and managing everybody." She quickly made her place in the family, causing upsets in her numerous fights with the sensitive Kermit. Her sensitivity also showed. When she was four, her father was reprimanding Kermit by shaking his shoulder; Ethel, with tears in her eyes said, "Shake Me father."

At Sagamore Hill, Ethel aggressively took part in all the games, and especially enjoyed horseback riding with her mother. Like her mother, she enjoyed needlework, and easily managed the younger children.

Ethel spent her teen years at the White House, when not away at school, and while there grew into a cultured, as well as fun-loving, young woman. She made her debut at the White House in 1908.

In April 1913, she married Dr. Richard Derby. While Derby served as a surgeon during World War I, Ethel worked with the Red Cross.

They returned to make their home in Oyster Bay, and Dr. Derby helped to establish the Community Hospital in Glen Cove.

After Dr. Derby's death, Ethel remained in Oyster Bay. She was a frequent visitor to Sagamore Hill until her death in 1977, a place she helped to make a national shrine.

Archie, the 5th child, spent much of his childhood in Washington where he became a favorite of the reporters. At Sagamore Hill, when he wasn't making mischief around the house, on would find him sailing in the bay with friends and his dog Skip, in a beloved boat called the "Why."

When he was 13, Archie, less robust than the other children, became seriously ill. There were anxious moments while those in Washington watched the light in his White House window burning throughout the night. Archie pulled through, in the typical Roosevelt fashion.

After graduation from Harvard in 1917, Archie married Grace Lockwood of Boston. He then entered the Army, where, as a Captain he was wounded. Archie also served in the Second World War, in the South Pacific, coming out as a Lieutenant Colonel with many decorations. Later he was an investment broker on Wall Street, commuting form his home, in Cold Spring Harbor.

Quentin, the youngest Roosevelt, quickly became known for his humorous, and sometimes philosophical remarks. To a reporter trying to trap the boy into giving information about his father, Quentin admitted, "I see him occasionally, but I know nothing of his family life." The family soon learned to keep him quiet during dinner where important guests were present.

In Washington, Quentin developed many friends of all ages and from all walks of life, but his best friends became known as the "White House Gang." Laughter rang through the White House halls, surprising the more "stuffy" visitors - though at times the boys did get carried away in their antics.

While Archie was terribly ill, it was Quentin (with the help of Charles Lee, a White House coachman) who brought the pony Algonquin to his room by elevator, sure that this would make his brother well.

As a young adult, Quentin displayed an incredible mechanical aptitude to the extent that he could fix almost anything, and even rebuilt a motorcycle to present to a friend as a gift.

Quentin was a sophomore at Harvard and showing promise as a writer. With American entry into World War I, he thought his mechanical skills would be useful as he joined the U.S.Army Air Corps. Just engaged to Flora Payne Whitney, he set out, winning admiration from fellow flyers.

On July 14, 1918, his plane was shot down by German aviators and he crashed behind enemy lines. Determining his identity by love letters from Flora Whitney, Quentin was buried with full battlefield honors by the Germans. After his grave came under Allied control, thousands of American soldiers visited it to pay their respects. Quentin's resting place became a shrine and an inspiration to his comrades in arms. Even though he was the son of a president, he died as a soldier nobly in the service of his country.

Last Updated: Wednesday, 22-Dec-2004 10:05:04 Eastern Standard Time
http://www.nps.gov/archive/sahi/kids.htm
Editor: Alberto E. Rivera